Osteoarthritis Sufferers Can Ease Their Winter Aches and Pains Through Osteoarthritis Treatment Programs

If you are an osteoarthritis sufferer, you know that the winter often represents a period of increased pain. Winter aches and pains can keep you from your normal, everyday activities if left untreated. Instead, taking advantage of an osteoarthritis treatment program offered by an experienced sports injury clinic can ease winter aches and pains and get you back in the game and enjoying everyday life. 

So, what is osteoarthritis? Osteoarthritis is the most common kind of joint disorder, usually attributed to aging and wear-and-tear on a joint, although it can also be due to genetics. It happens when the cartilage between your bones and joints wears down, leading to stiffness, swelling, and aches and pains due to the bones rubbing together. 

How can an osteoarthritis treatment program help ease winter aches and pains? It's simple. Since Osteoarthritis cannot be cured, it's important to deal with it. One option to deal with the pain is surgery, but if you would rather avoid this time-consuming and invasive procedure, a regular osteoarthritis treatment program can help you control your symptoms and avoid surgical procedures.  

One of the most common forms of osteoarthritis treatment programs is physiotherapy. Working with the right sports injury clinic and the right sports medicine specialist who will create a customized plan and physiotherapy system to fit your unique situation, will help you regain control of your osteoarthritis. Using a combination of state-of-the-art techniques, including acupuncture, manual therapy, orthopedic assessments and strength and conditioning, the right physiotherapy program can get you back to peak condition. 

Another kind of osteoarthritis treatment program is called viscosupplementation. Viscosupplementation is the process by which hyaluronic acid is injected into your effected joints. What is hyaluronic acid? It's a fluid naturally found in healthy joints.  It acts as a lubricant, allowing bones to move more comfortably as well as assisting in shock absorption. These injections, aside from working to put hyaluronic acid back into your body, are also believed to stimulate the natural production of hyaluronic acid, leading to further joint comfort and range of motion. 

Since osteoarthritis of the knee is the most common type of osteoarthritis, custom knee bracing also represents a crucial osteoarthritis treatment program. Instead of buying a generic brace, having one made to fit your body can help you regain the movement in your knee and help eliminate some of the annoying and painful swelling and stiffness. After all, a one size fits all treatment usually doesn’t treat anyone. The right knee brace works to take some of the stress off of the knee, allowing you to walk - and even run - with much more comfort.

Dealing with osteoarthritis can be painful at any time of the year, but if you know that your osteoarthritis gets worse in the winter, it's time to find the right osteoarthritis treatment program. Instead of waiting until the pain in unmanageable, speaking to a trained sports medicine specialist at a sports injury clinic early on may be an investment.  A range of osteoarthritis treatment program options can help keep you moving throughout the winter months. 

To find out more about the benefits of an osteoarthritis program, contact Athletic Edge Sports Medicine by calling 416 800 0800, or visit www.aesm.ca.

Hyaluronic Acid Injections Provide Much Needed Relief to Osteoarthritis Sufferers

Do you suffer from osteoarthritis of the knee? Are you unsure of what osteoarthritis of the knee is? Osteoarthritis is an ailment that affects thousands of people, severely limiting their ability to participate in the sports they love, turning everyday tasks a painful ordeal. If you have osteoarthritis, you know all about how painful it is, and how difficult it is to find treatments that eliminate the pain it causes.  

Surgery, therapy and daily oral medications may seem like your only route to combating osteoarthritis – but what if these options don’t appeal to you? There is another, quite amazing alternative: Hyaluronic acid injections. Hyaluronic acid injections are becoming a popular form of effective relief to osteoarthritis sufferers.

What are hyaluronic acid injections and what are the benefits of them?

Hyaluronic acid is a naturally occurring substance found in the human body and central to the process of cell growth and renewal. It is a fluid found in your joints which helps to lubricate them, allowing them to move more smoothly.

Osteoarthritis sufferers find hyaluronic acid injections useful because their hyaluronic acid has become thinner, and there isn’t enough present to properly lubricate and protect joints.  By injecting hyaluronic acid right into the knee joint, the supplemental hyaluronic acid works to thicken the existing fluid, making movement easier and delivering much needed relief to osteoarthritis sufferers.

As an alternative to surgery, hyaluronic acid injections are a liberating option. Relatively pain free, hyaluronic acid injections provide fast pain relief to osteoarthritis sufferers without a lengthy recovery period.  Who wants to face surgery, book valuable weeks off work (if they’re even available) and miss taking part in regular activities when one injection treatment can ease the pain and stiffness caused by osteoarthritis almost immediately?

Hyaluronic acid injections are also often more effective in terms of pain relief compared to oral medicines, decreasing the need for inconvenient daily doses which also cause a host of side effects. Hyaluronic acid injections can also provide pain relief for longer periods of time – keeping pain at bay for 6 months to a year.

What’s even better news is that hyaluronic acid injections are not only useful for osteoarthritis of the knee, but can also relieve pain caused by several other joint related ailments, including cartilage damage, fractures, and fibromyalgia.  In addition, they assist with ligament and wound healing. While surgery is an option for many of these illnesses, a valuable alternative to consider is the use of hyaluronic acid injections.

Hyaluronic acid injections are also very beneficial because they can be combined with other non-surgical treatments like therapy. Treatment from a sports injury or physiotherapy clinic while receiving hyaluronic acid injections, will not only rid you of joint pain and stiffness, but can rebuild muscle and  protect you from future injuries.

Don’t let joint pain and stiffness hold you back from enjoying the things you love. To find out more about hyaluronic acid injection treatments, or how they can offer relief to osteoarthritis sufferers, contact Athletic Edge Sports Medicine by calling 416 800 0800, or visit www.aesm.ca